


From a Distance

by tres_mechante



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: F/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-17
Updated: 2011-08-17
Packaged: 2017-10-22 18:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/241065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tres_mechante/pseuds/tres_mechante
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is their anniversary. Larry’s pov.</p>
            </blockquote>





	From a Distance

Infinity covers him like a blanket. Larry smiles at that bit of whimsy, but it's true. The night sky is unusually clear, thus allowing for a spectacular display of the constellations. Stars that first began to shine millions of years ago are only now illuminating the sky above him.

If he was a star, no, if the strength and purity of his love was a star, then it would brighten the night sky of some dreamer millions of years from now somewhere across the vast universe. And if that dreamer was filled with love, and that love was in turn a star—

A sudden noise startles him, but whatever animal made the sound is gone before he can even catch a glimpse of it. In reality there was probably nothing here that would – could – hurt him. Larry settles back and resumes his contemplation of life, the universe, and everything.

Today is his anniversary - _their_ anniversary. In just a few hours (adjusting for the difference in time zones) it will be exactly thirty years ago that they met for the first time. Larry lets his gaze on the heavens soften and allows himself to fall upward into the sea of sparkling lights as the memories comfort him.

Up until that moment, that wonderfully unexpected moment thirty years ago, he'd been eager to meet and work with the extraordinary young genius who’d signed up for one of his classes. As amazing as Charlie was, his mother was so much more.

Margaret, she’d been so insistent that he call her Margaret. He can still hear that request, “Mrs. Eppes makes me sound old – please, Margaret.” Her smile, her laugh, the way she _embraced_ everyone – literally and figuratively – drew him in until he wanted nothing more than one of her smiles, just a small portion of her attention.

Of course, the love she had for her son - _sons_ \- and husband also proved to be a quality that drew him even as it pained him. She would never be his, never show up at faculty functions on his arm. But if he couldn’t have all of her, he would greedily accept part of her.

Dear young Charles, so eager to learn, had become his protégé. And this young man, the child of his heart and his love, eventually took up a place of his own in Larry’s life. He would always be Margaret’s child, but he has also become Larry’s friend.

Larry frowns up at the sky, wondering where the clouds came from. The wind is a little stronger now, and dark wisps are beginning to shroud the stars. He shivers as the word ‘shroud’ crosses his mind. It reminds him of that horrible moment when his heart had been torn out.

Margaret died.

He’ll never forget the crushing grief, and the inability to fully express what he’d felt. For weeks after the funeral he dreamed he was trapped in Munch’s [painting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Scream.jpg), frozen in anguish. His love for Margaret, as far as anyone knew, was that of a family friend. No one knew that he _grieved_ as a lover, albeit an unrequited one. If not for the need to keep Charlie from withdrawing totally into himself, Larry may have… he honestly doesn’t know what he would have done- is afraid to dwell on it.

He feels a vague disquiet. He never really healed from that awful moment. As fond as he is of the charming Agent Reeves, he just cannot love her the same way. Margaret gave him life, and then took it away when she left.

He focuses on the night sky once more, saddened that the stars were now completely obscured.

He stretches out a hand to rest on the cool polished stone beside him, deliberately banishing the sad what-ifs of the past. He is here to honor love. Today he remembers the one who still holds his heart; tomorrow will stand with her son - _their_ son – to celebrate a new love when Charlie and Amita say their vows. He will stand as proud as any father; he did, after all, help to raise and form young Charles into the man he had become.

Larry sighs at the thought, wondering at the place he might have in this new family. Perhaps, in time—

"Are you okay?"

Larry tilts his head back and sees a woman standing behind him. "Well, that is the question, yes." He sits up and turns to look at her properly as best he can in the dark. She appears to be wearing a uniform of some type.

"I'm going to turn on the flashlight, okay? I just want to get a look at you," she says, giving him time to cover his eyes so he isn't blinded. The light is bright as she plays it over him and the area around him.

In the reflected light he clearly sees the glint of the badge on what he now recognizes as a police uniform, so he simply waits, not making any sudden moves. When the light is steady, he asks, "Is there a problem, officer?"

"Well, that is the question, yes," she says in perfect imitation of his earlier comment. "A couple of teenagers flagged me down, babbling about a body up here. As you can imagine, they were pretty upset."

Larry looks around. "It's a little late for kids to be out, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, but I don't think they were up to much mischief." She laughs. "I'm pretty sure it'll be a long, _long_ time before they take a middle-of-the-night stroll through another cemetery."

He can't help but laugh with her. He struggles to his feet, only just realizing he must have been sprawled on the ground for longer than he'd thought. He feels her eyes on him as he folds up his blanket and shoulders the rucksack.

She indicates the bag on his shoulder. "You just passing through?"

"Coming home, actually." He gestures to the grave where he'd been sprawled. "I was visiting a-a friend. Today is… an anniversary of sorts."

 

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